UCLA

Although a significant amount of research has been conducted on the emotional and psychological effects music has on children, very little research exists on the relationship between children and the music that underscores their movies. No formal studies exist on compositional approaches to the scoring of children’s films. Most significantly, the rapidly growing interest in media effects on children is lacking in a crucial way: focusing entirely on the visual and thematic content of motion picture, it underestimates the role underscore (aka 'background music') plays in how visual and thematic content is perceived and processed. My research, which explores these relationships from musical, cinematic, developmental, and educational perspectives, will serve as a gateway to new approaches for scholars in each of these fields, bringing new insight to the table. This exploratory study will merge existing theories across several disciplines, and prime readers in lesser-known concepts, defining new and often misused terms. Understanding the ways in which underscore impacts child audiences will not only serve as a tool for improving motion picture to better fit their needs and preferences, but it will also unveil lesser known compositional principles for producing underscore that specifically engages with and speaks to children, improving the overall quality and impact of the visual and thematic content.

Keywords: Children, Film, Underscore, Composition, Media Effects, Music, Soundtrack, Communications, Development, Family Movies, Motion Picture, Visual Media, Film Theory, Mickey-Mousing, Media Violence, animation